Taupo crash victims recovering well

Last updated 12:38 06/01/2014

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Family members injured when a van crashed off the Napier-Taupo road last week were all improving, says a family spokesman.

Baldev Raj, the brother-in-law of Jactar Singh, who was critically injured in the van crash on Thursday, said he wanted to correct an inaccuracy reported by some media that the van’s driver, Sandeep Singh, fell asleep at the wheel.

Mr Raj said the crash was now the subject of a police investigation so the family would not make any further comment in relation to how the crash had occurred, "but it was not due to the driver falling asleep", Mr Raj said in a statement this morning.

The statement said one of the children involved in the crash, a nine-year -old girl (Jaspreet) was now in a stable condition and had been moved to the children’s ward.

Mr Raj said the family wanted to thank the public and the Sikh community for all their messages, prayers and support.

He asked for privacy so the extended family could focus on supporting family members in hospital.

Jactar was transferred to Christchurch Hospital for further treatment on Saturday. His six-month-old son, Manmeet, remains in a serious but stable condition in the high dependency unit.

Other victims, including Jactar’s wife Sukhwinder Kaur and daughter Amureet, 8, are in stable conditions.

A family friend Satvir Singh has been transferred to Hutt Hospital for further treatment.